Breakwater IT have welcomed two new arrivals on their Service Desk – Dave Parlour as a Level 1 Engineer and Thomas Secker as a Trainee Systems Engineer.
Breakwater support apprenticeship and work experience schemes within the business and were fortunate to have Thomas join the team during his studies to discover what it is like to work for an IT service provider.
Thomas now returns as a Trainee Systems Engineer, having just completed his A-Levels, and will be learning more about how Breakwater delivers IT services to organisations within East Anglia and beyond.
Another former apprentice within Breakwater, Toby Kalkman, has now progressed to the position of Level 1 Engineer and achieved his CompTIA A+ certification.
Dave Parlour joins the company with valuable experience of supporting users in technological environments. He will work along-side our growing Service Desk team to resolve enquiries, helping many varied organisations use technology to enhance the way they operate.
Are you a Norfolk manufacturer based outside of Norwich and Great Yarmouth City Centre?
You might be eligible for 50% skills funding!
Labour and skills shortages are widely recognised as a huge concern and financial drain for Norfolk businesses. In recognition of the need to support Norfolk manufacturer’s productivity and growth, Cassandra Andrews Ltd has developed an ‘Engaging Manufacturing for Growth’ programme to ensure you have a talent and succession plan to support the growth of your manufacturing business.
The programme is currently being considered for 50% funding from the European Social Fund and in consequence would offer a significant discount and value for money.
Rather than providing line management ‘skills training’ in isolation, the programme will look holistically at your business, identifying your business challenges and focusing on achieving success through your workforce. The programme will support you with a way forward that is flexible, adaptable and driven by you including:
An on-site review of current engagement levels in your business, based on the Engage for Success enablers.
Motivational Maps for the management team to identify what individual managers are motivated by and to what extent their key motivators are being met.
A simple review of current people management practices.
An action plan aligned to business priorities with key metrics to monitor success of the programme eg absence/turnover rates, productivity, H&S accidents etc
A bespoke line managers skills development programme, including three days formal training and three days on-site coaching. This will be created and delivered from a menu of short courses/sessions such as motivating and engaging your team, performance management, absence management etc
Professional development has proven effective in retaining top talent, maintaining quality levels, and achieving competitive advantage. In addition, it is widely reported that 75% of employees leave their line manager not the business. As this is one of the four drivers for engaged employees, it is critical for your bottom line that all line managers understand the key business benefits of an engaged workforce and how to lead, motivate and engage their teams.
Important Information
You should be a manufacturer based outside Norwich and Great Yarmouth City Centre. With particular interested in manufacturers based in West and North Norfolk
You should employ less than 250 people
It is expected that the programme would start Autumn/Winter 2018
Places are limited, for more information please email Cassandra on [email protected] or call 07544 386818
Bolting specialist Gee-Force Hydraulics is opening its doors for a customer awareness week to showcase its expanding equipment range of portable products for offshore and manufacturing engineering.
It is inviting its clients and potential clients to its Great Yarmouth headquarters in the week beginning Monday 23 July when expo vans from manufacturers HTL and Climax will be on site.
The company, which marked a record £1m turnover last year and is on course to break that record this year, wants businesses to feed back on what equipment they would like to see on its Beacon Park shelves.
Managing Director Graeme Cook said including the portable range from Climax, which includes pipeline repairs, re-facing flange facers, and pipe preparation, was in response to customer demand.
“We will be the only company having these portable machines here,” he said. “We will be carrying stock on our shelves in Great Yarmouth, which will take out excessive carriage charges for customers. We already have some out on hire now.
“There is much demand for this portable machine – for manufacturing, offshore work, including flange facing and use at the Bacton gas terminal by different companies.”
The equipment has been used by Gee-Force customers working as contractors on the Spirit Energy offshore project at Morecambe Bay and also at Bacton Gas Terminal.
“We’re expanding our shelving to accommodate the pneumatic or hydraulic flange facers, pipe bevellers and clam shell cutters. We would like to hear from the market place about any other equipment our clients and potential customers would like on our shelves for hire and purchase. Gee-Force Hydraulics was acquired by its rental and training partner, the national HTL group, bringing an even larger product base for its increasing customers, while maintaining its Gee-Force Hydraulics identity.
Business, especially deliveries of equipment to the Bacton Gas Terminal, has been brisk.
“We are very happy with business in the first six months this year,” said Mr Cook. “If we can maintain this level of growth, our turnover will be another record for us this year in terms of turnover and profit.”
Another innovation is the i-calibrate software on all its torque wrench equipment – manual, hydraulic and pneumatic. Certification and calibration information about each piece of equipment is revealed by hovering a smart phone over the QR code on each piece of equipment.
To take part in the customer awareness week, contact Gee-Force Hydraulics on 01493 603797.
Flagship Group and their suppliers have raised £5,500 for the charity Metabolic Support UK through their charity golf day that took place on Friday 13 July.
The charity was chosen by Liam Betts, Managing Director of RFT Services and Gasway after they supported his family when his son was born with a genetic condition.
Staff from the Group including Flagship Homes, RFT Services and Gasway were joined by a number of local and national suppliers in a round of golf followed by a raffle and auction at Dunston Hall near Norwich. The winners by a narrow victory were the team from Mr Overalls, a supplier of clothing and equipment based in Wymondham.
Neal Simmons, organiser of the event and Head of Supply Chain at RFT Services, said: “Today has been a great success and cemented this as an annual event in our calendar. I would like to thank all of the sponsors for their generous donations and players for taking part and making it a successful day.”
Liam Betts, Managing Director of RFT services and Gasway said: “This has been a great opportunity to get together with our suppliers and raise funds for a fantastic cause which is close to my heart as they helped us through a challenging time to understand and cope with my son’s condition when he was born.”
Breakwater have been working with local schools as part of the Business for Life scheme that’s running in association with our client, Almary Green Investments, which aims to give teenagers real life experience in marketing and selling their own products and services.Mark Poole, our Commercial Manager, has been mentoring pupils from Norwich High School for Girls as they prepared to present their business ideas following around 6 weeks trading with an initial start-up budget of £100 that was donated by Almary Green. The teams aged between 14 and 15 made their presentations on the 21st March and now eagerly await the decision that the judging panel will announce on the 25th April. The winning team will receive £500 for their school. Mark says “It’s hard to know what to expect when going into meet a group of Year 9 girls and I certainly didn’t expect to come away feeling positive and inspired by what they had achieved. The professionalism, collaboration, creativity and eagerness I witnessed was enough to put a few real businesses to shame.”
The launch event was covered by both Mustard TV and the EDP. See the video of the event here
Breakwater IT are based on the Meridian Business Park and offer IT Support in Norwich and all over East Anglia as well as Business Telecoms Solutions and IT Consultancy.
The Norfolk Economic Intelligence Reportbrings together key business, economic and labour market intelligence to provide a regular insight into the current state of the Norfolk economy.
The report is produced on a quarterly basis by the Economic Development Team and reflects economic activity in the county from the previous financial quarter.
The current document covers January to March 2016.
KLM UK Engineering Limited 2018 Charity Golf Day was a great success & we would like to thank all the attendees and generous sponsors, who helped us raise £1,500 for East Anglian Air Ambulance!
As part of Start-Rite ‘s journey in continuing to invest in future growth, 16 staff members at its Norwich HQ recently completed a 12-month LEAN programme, to learn tools and techniques that improve operational performance in the workplace.
The fun and interactive course, delivered by Fedden USP in conjunction with MIT Skills, demonstrates the practical application of LEAN principles in today’s business environments in order to improve profits through continuous improvement. The course consisted of five-days of theory, followed by eight days of mentoring to help the candidates deliver two work-based improvement projects that would benefit both them as an individual and the business.
The course was delivered by sector specialist Colin Allaway, who has over 20 years’ experience using best practice within various sectors, including extensive supply chain and logistics experience. Topics covered included the basic principles of LEAN, its origins from the Japanese automotive industry and how it applies to both operational and office environments; improving productivity and reducing lead-times; mapping out the customer journey to improve service levels; workplace organisation techniques; problem solving; creating standard operating procedures to capture best practice; and cost/benefit analysis.
Colin said: “Our workshops have a big emphasis on fun, as we use a range of games and business simulations to get the message across and ensure that people enjoy being part of the improvement workshop. The real benefit is in the use of work based projects to embed the learning, whilst also providing an ever more important opportunity for both individual and team development. This has been most prevalent with the Distribution Team in particular and has been very rewarding.”
Implementing LEAN business processes across the business has helped Start-Rite to empower its workforce, improve productivity, increase the levels of innovation within the business, and support collaborative and cross function working for future business initiatives.
Chris Knights, PM Shift Supervisor, at Start-Rite said: “I think the single most important factor regarding our LEAN course is the message it’s sent to the workforce. From day one, what your employers are doing is stating that not only do they value the constructive input of their staff, but they want to nurture and encourage it. My experience in working on the course with the Distribution Centre team has been extremely positive. A noticeable confidence is evident in some members of staff who previously may have been less likely to put their ideas forward or take ownership of a project, and this has made the course entirely worthwhile.”
Rebekah Lake, AM Shift Supervisor, at Start-Rite, said: “I found the LEAN course extremely interesting and beneficial, as it taught me a lot about saving time, energy and money for the company. It incorporates the meaning of a team effort and was an eye-opener into how a company can become more profitable.”
Ian Watson, Start-Rite CEO, said: “The development of skills within our office and distribution centre teams has had beneficial results for the business and individuals, in particular, helping to deliver a complete overhaul of our DC working practices to improve our service levels to customers and consumers.” On completing the course, all candidates received a Level 2 NVQ qualification.
To find out more about the benefits of the LEAN development course visit www.fedden-usp.co.uk.
When a Norfolk charity found itself in difficulties back in 2013, a local telecoms business stepped in to help.
Local businesses working to support each other is so important in a competitive marketplace, where there are huge corporations and the odd unscrupulous supplier to contend with. This community spirit was seen in action with Norfolk charity Musical Keys and Portal Voice & Data, a local telecoms business.
Norwich based charity, Musical Keys, provides music and arts based activities for people of all ages with disabilities and additional needs, across Norfolk. Over 27 years, they have developed a comprehensive programme enabling participants to develop personal and social skills, build confidence and express themselves through enjoyable, interactive sessions. Their groups also offer a support network to parents, carers and families.
The charity sector is a challenging place in which to thrive and in 2013 Musical Keys came across some difficulties with their telephony supplier but with help and support from Portal Voice & Data, the small Norfolk charity was able to continue its work, providing access to music and creative opportunities for its service users.
Portal is a telecommunications business also based in Norwich. Founded in 1996, they supply and maintain telecommunication and data solutions with a consultative approach, offering their expertise to provide the best possible solution for each of their customers.
When they caught wind of Musical Keys’ story, the Managing Director John Corney knew he needed to offer his help;
“We were delighted to address some significant overcharging from a competitor and to support the work of this excellent charity.”
Since their initial partnership, Portal has continued to carry out maintenance on the Musical Keys phone system free of charge, with the pledge to support future telephony and data needs.
John Corney and his staff have also continued to fundraise for the charity, most recently via their ‘Charity Parking Sale’. The company has rented out their parking spaces at Portal HQ, close to Carrow Road, to dedicated Norwich City FC supporters. The spaces are available for the duration of the football season, for home fixtures, at a cost of £100. This year the parking spaces sold in record time and raised a total of £1,300.00 for Musical Keys.
Alison Cooper, Fundraiser for Musical Keys praised Portal for its ongoing commitment “Longstanding corporate partnerships are increasingly hard to come by for small charities like ours. There is a great deal of competition for corporate support in the charity sector and we count ourselves very lucky to have developed such a significant relationship with Portal. From their initial support in 2013, they have continued to show their commitment to contributing to our work. It’s made a huge difference to what we have been able to achieve.”
On Friday July 27th the County of Norfolk will experience the first ‘Norfolk Day’. This is a great chance to celebrate all the things that the local community love about the county.
Cooper Lomaz Recruitment are long standing and proud members of the Norfolk business community, as such they are looking forward to celebrating all that is great about Norfolk with their clients. Cooper Lomaz Recruitment will be hosting a Business Breakfast for its Norfolk clients to kick the day off in style. The event will take place on Friday 27th July from 8.00am to 10.00am at The Library on Guildhall Hill in central Norwich.
On choosing to host the venue, Jayne Raffles, Director at The Library said ‘We are looking forward to being involved in Norfolk Day celebrations. Beginning the day with a networking business breakfast with Cooper Lomaz Recruitment and celebrating the history, culture, business, innovation and of course the best of Norfolk produce. All of this in our stunning historical building. Above all, we are proud to live and work in this beautiful county, working alongside many Norfolk suppliers’.
Guests will join Cooper Lomaz Recruitment from 8am – 10am where they will sample food sourced from local suppliers from the Norfolk Region. On the menu will be Norfolk favourites, including, Meat sourced from Toombs Butchers, Bread Rolls from TimberHill bakery, Apple juice from Ashill Farm in Thetford and local sparkling wine from Flint Vineyard Winery based in Earsham, Norfolk.
Simon Brown, Managing Director of Cooper Lomaz, said “I am delighted to host this event and be a part of Norfolk Day. I am proud to work with businesses within the Norfolk area and Norfolk Day gives organisations that opportunity to celebrate together, promoting everything that is unique and so great about the County and the people of Norfolk”.
Cooper Lomaz Recruitment do have a small number of places still available for this event. If you work at a business based in Norfolk and would be interested in attending please contact our events team on [email protected] or 01603 766760.
A SENIOR delegation from Great Yarmouth travelled to Westminster recently to highlight to energy minister, Claire Perry, the national importance of the borough’s growing offshore wind energy sector.
Arranged by Brandon Lewis MP, the visit was led by Cllr Graham Plant, leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, together with Chris Starkie, chief executive of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, and Richard Goffin, port director at Peel Ports Great Yarmouth, together with officers from the borough and county councils.
The team gave a presentation to Ms Perry, setting out the significant investment that has already taken place in offshore wind farms and at the Outer Harbour, as well as the exciting ambitions and further opportunities at Great Yarmouth.
Cllr Plant said: “This visit was part of our ongoing work with Peel Ports Great Yarmouth, the LEP, the county council and other partners to maximise the opportunities for Great Yarmouth across the energy sector.
“Great Yarmouth is uniquely placed to capture for the UK the significant growth opportunities in offshore wind, as it is the closest deep water port to the Southern North Sea market and is globally-renowned as England’s offshore energy sector capital, with an extensive locally-based marine energy supply chain.
“Already, some of the world’s biggest offshore wind farms are being built and serviced from Great Yarmouth, and with Government support we can capture further opportunities to support local jobs and growth, and contribute to the UK’s national Industrial Strategy.
“Ms Perry was very impressed and receptive to what we had to say, and keen to work with us and other departments to explore what more the Government can do to help maximise our potential in offshore wind.”
Great Yarmouth is at the forefront of £39bn energy investment over the next 20 years. With Equinor already servicing the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm from its UK Wind Energy Centre on the river port, and the Outer Harbour serving as the assembly and installation port for both East Anglia ONE and Galloper offshore wind farms, Great Yarmouth has a growing reputation as an offshore wind hub.
This spring, Vattenfall and Peel Ports Great Yarmouth announced they were approaching a final commercial agreement about Great Yarmouth becoming the operations and maintenance base for two of the world’s largest offshore wind farms: Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas.
Help us pave the way to a future of even better care for children with life-threatening conditions.
Leave a lasting legacy and sponsor a brick along the garden path in our new children’s hospice. In Norfolk EACH cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions and supports their families at an unimaginably difficult time.
The Nook, our new hospice just south of Norwich, will transform the care we can provide to families. By sponsoring a brick lining our garden path you will be investing in the future of children’s palliative care for years to come.
You can choose between 2 options (both are 201mmx105mm) and have your name engraved directly on to the brick.
Brick with black writing – 2 lines: £100
Brick with gold writing – 2 lines: £150
Building of the nook is well underway and we need your support to finish it! The nook will provide a central hub for us to deliver even better care across Norfolk. We’ve outgrown our hospice at Quidenham and need a 21st century building to provide 21st century care.